I have lived in China for a little while and many times came to a brick wall in trying to understand Chinese reluctance to help out or step in to help people in times of difficulties. By chance I came across the following piece which kind of helps many of us overseas visitors understand the dynamics of what goes on and behind the mask of many
Nanjing Peng Yu refers to a 2006 case in Nanjing. On the morning of November 20th, 65-year-old woman Xu Shoulan had fallen and injured herself at a bus stop. A man, Peng Yu, helped her up and then, after her requests, took her to the hospital. The old woman then blamed him and claimed that he had run into her. Peng Yu resolutely denied this. The old woman sued him. After four trials, a Nanjing judge ruled that since he admitted to being the first person to get off the bus, and in accordance with common sense, there was a greater probability that he had run into the old woman, and so he was ordered to compensate her over 45,000 RMB. This was a very famous case, often to explain why many people are reluctant to help others.